The Rev. Daniel Schmidt didn't talk about turkey. He didn't mention stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
"To some people, Thanksgiving means food. . . . There's more to Thanksgiving, of course," Mr. Schmidt told about 120 worshipers last night at the First Baptist Church of Savage.
"The pilgrims wanted to return thanks to God," he said.
"That's what we should do. Give thanks to the Lord."
Mr. Schmidt's message was part of Savage's annual Thanksgiving service, which draws Christians from the various denominations in the town.
The service has been a part of the Savage community for decades.
It's been a means by which the tight-knit town of 2,285 people, which sits south of Route 32 and
west of U.S. 1, has come together over the years.
"It's usually something everybody tries to attend," said Jacky Waller, a member of the worship committee at First Baptist Church of Savage, who has attended the annual service for the past 20 years.
"It's a good chance to see how other churches worship. We usually just adopt the style of worship of the church we're in."
The service, celebrating the New World's pilgrims thanking God for their food, involves four churches, based in Savage.
In addition to First Baptist Church and Countryside Fellowship, the service includes members from the United Methodist Church and the Bethel Assembly of God Church.
Rotating annually among the four churches, 150 to 200 congregants gather to hear singing and preaching from the different Christian denominations.
"It's really nice for us all just to be together," said Rose Marie Cox, whose husband, the Rev. Don Cox, is pastor of the Bethel Assembly of God Church.
"We're all believers in the Lord."
No one seems to know how long the community services have been held.
Some trace the event back to when the more than 170-year-old Savage Mill -- the institution around which the community originally was built -- was still in operation.
"They've been having them for as long as I can remember, and I'm 73," said Aileen Lee, a member of First
Baptist Church and lifelong Savage resident.
"It used to be on Thanksgiving morning, but with so many people working and preparing Thanksgiving dinner, they decided to move it to Wednesday night," said Ms. Lee, who is known around Savage as something of a local church historian.
The Thanksgiving celebration is the last annual gathering of all members of the town's Christian groups.
Years ago, some town members recall, there also were two other community services during which all the local congregations would come worship together: New Year's Eve services and Easter sunrise services.
"It's a real nice thing," said 51-year-old Ray Miles, director of music at the United Methodist Church, reflecting on the services in the town he was raised.
"It's something I look forward to every year."
The warmth of community spirit throughout Savage also is most evident in the recent addition of Countryside Fellowship to the town.
Members of Countryside Fellowship, which until last month held services in nearby Bollman Bridge Elementary school, were given their building in Savage by Grace Christian Church.
As the number of congregants at Grace Christian Church dropped from a high of 125 members to about 30, members there decided to give away their building to the younger and growing Countryside Fellowship.
Along with Countryside Fellowship's welcome to the community, Schmidt was invited to be the minister for the evening.
"I think it's a good opportunity to bring people from the community together," Mr. Schmidt said.
"I think it's a wonderful thing to praise and give God thanks for his goodness."